Matt & Dani

Our whirlwind trip started when Matt and I left for San Diego at 4pm on Thursday (9/16), arriving just after midnight! Friday morning we made plans to visit Matt’s cousins (Justin & Mirabelle) for breakfast. We always make it a point to stop by and visit them when we’re in the area, we don’t get to see them as much as we’d like and they are truly great people. We dropped by their house around 9 and spent some time with Justin and Sam before Mirabelle came back (after dropping Marissa off at school). Before we came down they let us know that they had some hand-me-down baby stuff to give us… we had no idea how much they had!! Not only was there a ton of stuff, it was REALLY nice stuff; stroller, car seats & bases, clothes, playpen, breast pump, etc…! The trunk of our rental car was completely stuffed! Anyway, we had some lumpia for breakfast before heading back to the hotel to prepare for the wedding.

I always knew Nicole would have a glamorous wedding, a day filled with close friends and family, beautiful décor and wonderful food, and yet, the day was so much more than I expected.

Matt and I got ready early in the afternoon, both exhausted from the trip down but excited to see old friends again. Matt complemented his black suit with a ‘Cocky’ belt buckle (from the TV show Bones!) while I was set on proving that even pregnant women can rock a pair of heels :0 ) We arrived at the church early, meeting up with some friends we had not seen in years before going inside. It seemed like only minutes before we were standing, watching the beautiful bride walk toward her man. Nicole looked glamorous in her gown, birdcage veil and calm demeanor as she walked toward Denny. We were anxiously awaiting whether a tear or two would fall as she came closer but Denny found a way, in waving her to hurry, to keep the tears back.

After the ceremony, Matt and I met up with Wes and Misty for a drink at the bar just down from El Cortez (the reception site). Matt enjoyed a rum and coke while I had a ‘Baby Love”. Quite fitting for a virgin drink. We caught up with Wes and learned more about how he and Misty (a.k.a. the Mystifier) met before heading to the reception.

Of course we got placed at the same table with all our old buddies; Wes & Misty, Jon & Tricia, Dan & Crystal and Casey & Sharon. Wes, Jon, Dan and Casey were all part of the Marie Callendar’s crew that Matt used to hang out with when we lived in Southern Cal. They reminisced about the old times before falling into their old routine of acting goofy. The rest of the night was filled with great food, drinks, dancing, talking, etc… We had a BLAST!

We got back to the hotel room around midnight and somehow woke up at 3:30, checked out and started the trip home. We got back home and returned the rental car with 30 minutes to spare (otherwise we would have had to keep the car till Monday)! The trip was over and we spent the rest of Saturday sleeping!

-Dani